The group will raffle a beautiful quilt, donated by Daisy Gawellek.

Stop by to take a look and buy your raffle tickets. Proceeds will be used towards the Ely Stage Stop project.

Many artifacts big and small will be only display as well. Don’t miss their antique orchard sprayer, pear packing equipment and horsedrawn farm equipment including a hay rack, buggy and seed broadcaster.

You also will be able to purchase from their great assortment of books and join the Lake County Historical Society. They always are seeking new members to keep the history of Lake County alive for future generations.

For more information contact the Lake County Historical Society at 707-262-0646 or visit the group online at www.lakecountyhistoricalsociety.net .

The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at the school, 13050 High Valley Road at Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks.

The festivities will include an Awesome Haunted House, DJ Dre' Kutter (karaoke too!), games with treats, Jumperz Bounce Houses, crafts and more.

Unlimited wristband pre-sale costs $8 ($10 on the day of the event) or tickets are 25 cents each (activities and games cost two tickets), not including food/drinks.

Food will include barbecue, cotton candy, snow cones and a bake sale. There also will be a raffle.

The event is a fundraiser for the East Lake Parent, Teacher and Community Association.

For more information contact Charmaine Weldon, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or telephone 707-685-5438.

While many other crops are grown for maximum yield with lots of fertilizer and water, the best quality winegrapes are grown with an open canopy that allows dappled sunlight to reach the fruit.

Too much water will grow monster vines that produce vegetative flavors. Canned green bean is not what the winemakers want! Too little water can also harm fruit causing shrivel, sunburn and raisin flavors.

The approach of giving vines enough water for an open and balanced canopy is called deficit irrigation, implying that vines are grown with less than full water availability.

As a matter of fact, winegrapes in Lake County use a lot less water than other crops. While vineyards get by with 5 to 10 inches of applied water each year, irrigated orchards, hay and pasture use 20 to 40 inches.

Deficit irrigation requires careful monitoring of soil and vine water status. Devices with names like soil tensiometers, neutron probes, and dielectric water content sensors are used to measure soil water availability.

Vine water status is measured with instruments such as pressure chambers and the phytogram. Growers also use systematic observations of shoot growth rate and shoot tip vigor to help decide when water availability is limiting vine growth.

Almost all Lake County winegrape growers have micro-irrigation or “drip irrigation” systems. With these systems each vine has one or two emitters that drip water out at a specific rate.

These systems are very efficient because they allow for careful regulation of the amount of water applied, and they create only a small area of wet soil from which water evaporates.

Lake County is fortunate to be one of the few regions in California with a publicly available network of weather stations.

The Lake County Pear and Grape network is a cooperative effort among UC IPM, UC Cooperative Extension, the Lake County Air Quality Management District, the Lake County Department of Agriculture, the Lake County Winegrape Commission (LCWC), and three growers who have purchased their own stations.

Winegrape growers use information from the station nearest their vineyard to guide water applications. Measurements of temperature and humidity are fed into a formula that calculates how much water vines are using, and growers access this information on the website. Using local and up-to-date weather information, growers can fine tune their irrigation program.

In the Vineyard is a monthly feature from the Lake County Winegrape Commission. For information about Lake County’s winegrape industry and the Commission, visit the commission’s Web site, www.lakecountywinegrape.org .

Since the event always occurs on the last day of October, it’s called a “harvest party.” All that continues this year on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The theme for Harvest Party 2009 is “Blast From The Past.” This is a free event for the whole family.

There will be a wide array of contests – involving costumes, hula hoops, Bazooka Bubble Gum Blowing and pumpkin carving.

There will be two grand prize raffle drawings, plus drawings for bikes, gift certificates, movie tickets, an art basket and more!

And, of course, there will be lots of candy for the kids. The awesome Beaudettes will provide musical entertainment.

Adults are encouraged to bring new or gently used coats for the “Keep Our Kids Kozy” Coat Drive. By bringing a coat you are entered into a drawing for a one-night stay at the Mt. View Hotel and Spa and a spa package. All donated coats will be going to the Lake County Healthy Start Program.

What sets this year’s event apart from previous years is the church’s unique involvement in the local community and vice versa. In October HVCC will conduct a Sunday service unlike any it has ever done. Believe it or not, church members will show up on one Sunday dressed to work … outside. There will be praise and worship, but then the church will close and the church member will disperse out into surrounding community to do all manner of manual labor … for free. One place many will go to do yard work is the Middletown Cemetery.

Don’t be surprised if you should see HVCC members out and about at the Coyote Valley Community Plaza’s Thursday Markets in October encouraging folks to walk away from that festivity with a very special “goodie bag.”

Among the many goodies in the bag, there should be a dry eraser to-do-list board with a dry marker. The board will have a magnetic backing and fit nicely on a refrigerator door. What better place to put a reminder for the upcoming “Blast From The Past” Harvester Party than a refrigerator?

By the way, the to-do-list board was the brainchild of Canadian designer Sherry Lynn Simones. Its advertisers include members of the Ryze Business Network from around the world. The Ryze Business Network has been reaching out to Lake County since June of 2005, when South African Althea Garner came to Middletown to be in the “Middletown Days” Parade and address the Middletown Merchants at the Calpine Visitor Center regarding business networking.

For more information about the Hidden Valley Community Church’s “Blast From The Past” Harvest Party, visit www.hvcchurch.com or call 707-987-3510.

On Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, the Soper-Reese Community Theatre will host its Harvest Moon Dinner and Dance at 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport. Courtesy photo.

LAKE COUNTY – The Soper-Reese Community Theatre will host its annual fundraising event, Harvest Moon Dinner and Dance, on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the theater, 275 S. Main St., Lakeport.

The inside of the theatre is being transformed into a big band nightclub for dining and dancing.

Catering a full sit-down dinner will be Blue Wing Saloon & Café Chef Mark Linback.

Tulip Hill Winery, Brassfield Estate Winery, Zoom Wines, Steele Wines, Gregory Graham Winery, Six Sigma Ranch & Winery and Ceâgo Vinegarden have generously donated wines. Providing the musical entertainment for the evening will be the award winning big band sound of John Parkinson and the Mendocino Jazz Band.

The evening will begin with appetizers and local wines in the new outdoor courtyard, with background music provided by guitarist Dan Meyer.

The Early Lake Lions Club will be serving drinks in the main lobby. A table of select silent auction items will be on display for guests to place their bids.

Before the dancing begins, Shaun Hornby of Hornby’s Furniture Restoration will serve as auctioneer for some fabulous and fun live auction items, including a Lake Tahoe cabin weekend, a one-week two-bedroom timeshare, and sailing on San Francisco Bay. The goal for our next building renovation phase is $100,000, which will finish the dressing rooms and green room along with handicap restrooms

Following the auction, the Mendocino Jazz Band will play two 45-minute sets for listening and dancing enjoyment.

The festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m. for dinner guests. Dinner and dance tickets are on sale for $100 per person. The deadline for purchasing dinner and dancing tickets is Sept. 26.

Tickets for music and dancing only are available for the reduced price of $40 per person and can be purchased at the door after 7:30 p.m. on the night of the event. Tickets are also available for music and dancing only at the reduced price of $40 per person. Dancing and music only guests should arrive at the theater by 7:30 p.m.

For tickets and additional information, contact Nina Marino, 707-279-4082. The deadline for purchasing dinner and dancing tickets ($100) is Sept. 26.

The Soper-Reese Community Theatre is your theater. Growing out of a community wide need for a beautiful and versatile venue for theater, symphony and other musical and entertainment events, as well as a practical meeting place for political and educational programs, the facility has been an evolving project.

Launched by a major gift from Jim and Florence Soper to the Lake County Arts Council to renovate the nostalgic old Lakeport movie house, then owned and managed by the late Bob Reese. The Soper-Reese building has now been open for over 20 months during which a variety of shows and programs have been presented to the public.

Nearly simultaneously, two renovation phases have created an entirely new interior, a handsome innovative wall-to-wall stage with thrust wings out into the house area for added staging options, state of the art light and sound equipment, new orchestra chairs, and the new courtyard, among other major improvements.

Community support for this project has been overwhelming, and the Soper-Reese Committee wants to thank the Lake County Winegrape Commission and others who have generously donated items and their time for their continued sponsorship of this exciting annual fundraiser.

The goal for the next building renovation phase is $100,000, to finish the dressing rooms and green room along with handicap-accessible restrooms in the new building under construction in the back of the theater.

Community support for this project has been overwhelming, and the Soper-Reese Committee wants to thank and we thank the Lake County Winegrape Commission and others who have generously donated items and their time for their continued sponsorship of this exciting annual fundraiser, along with those who have generously donated items and their time.

Join the theater's supporters for a romantic, fun-filled evening and help “ your” community theatre reach its goal.

Writer Alan Goldfarb gets a history lesson from Lake County growers Marilyn/Myron Holdenried, Walt and Madelene Lyon, and Larry Rogers. Courtesy photo.

KELSEYVILLE – Two prominent wine writers from leading beverage magazines recently toured Lake County wineries as guests of the Lake County Winegrape Commission, prompting the commission to state that its marketing efforts are paying off.

Independent wine writers Alan Goldfarb, currently working with Appellation America, and Deborah Parker Wong, Northern California editor of The Tasting Panel Magazine, toured area wineries, met with local winegrape growers, and enjoyed wine tasting at various venues during their separate visits.

"Over the last few years, the Commission's marketing committee has focused on getting key wine writers to come to Lake County, tour the region and taste our wines,” said Peter Molnar, chair of the Commission and its marketing committee. “Bringing journalists in to experience our area’s fine wine is important to the Commission’s goal of ‘getting the word out’ about Lake County as a premier winegrape growing region. Our growers and winery representatives did a wonderful job hosting these two notable individuals.”

Goldfarb is a journalist, book author and former radio show host. He was the wine editor at the St. Helena Star in Napa Valley and now serves as a regional editor at Appellation America, an online publication offering extensive information on North American wine and wineries.

Following his visit to Lake County, he listed wines from Gregory Graham and Six Sigma wineries in his recommendations posted on the Appellation America Web site.

Goldfarb’s tour of Lake County included tasting at Greg Graham Winery, Sauvignon Blanc tasting with Mark Burch, tour and tasting with Molnar, and a tasting at Steele Wines.

During a luncheon and tasting grape growing pioneers Myron and Marilyn Holdenried, Walt and Madelene Lyon, and Larry Rogers shared information about Lake County’s history with the journalist.

Goldfarb was a dinner guest of Bill and Patty Brunetti at their home in Lakeport, where he enjoyed samples of Snows Lake vintages. The writer also reviewed and tasted wines at Brassfield Estate with winemaker Kevin Robinson.

Wong’s visit to Lake County resulted in two feature articles for The Tasting Panel Magazine, a monthly trade publication for beverage industry professionals.

Wong, who has also been a judge for the San Francisco International Wine Competition, told the commission that she enjoyed her Lake County tour so much that she brought her family back for a summer vacation.

Several local Sauvignon Blanc growers welcomed Wong to a barbecue and tasting at the Roumiguiere Vineyards during her tour of the area. She was also treated to visits with growers David and Bonnie Weiss, Mark Burch, and Clay and Margarita Shannon.

Noting the success of publicity following the tours by Goldfarb and Wong, Molnar said the Winegrape Commission continues to invite journalists to Lake County in an effort to market the area’s growing wine industry.

“It is our time to tell our story and let wine consumers know about the wonderful wine and wine grapes we are producing here in Lake County,” he said.

Established in 1991 by the winegrape growers of Lake County, the Lake County Winegrape Commission is a local marketing order, the primary function of which is to provide marketing, education and research programs to Lake County winegrape growers.

For more information contact the commission at 707-995-3421, fax 707-996-3618 or visit www.lakecountywinegrape.org .